File transfer from one smartphone to another can be painstakingly slow if you use Bluetooth. That’s where Lenovo’s file sharing free app, SHAREit, makes life a lot easier. The app creates a private wireless network between two smartphones, and allows them to send and receive files, images, movies and even games within seconds. Now Lenovo has added a string of new features to the app, which allow users to share files from a smartphone to a PC and vice-versa.

To connect a smartphone to a PC over SHAREit, you need its app on the phone (it’s free to download and available on both Google Play store and Apple App store). Swipe left to open the menu page and select Connect to PC. Open SHAREit on the PC and it will show a page with a QR code. Scan it with your phone to set up a connection between the two. You can transfer files, documents, videos and photos from the phone to the PC and vice-versa in a few seconds without needing a USB cable. The catch is that both devices should be on the same network, unlike the phone-to-phone connection which works by creating a private WiFi network of its own. This restricts the use of new functions a little.

Once connected to the PC, users can create a back-up of the photos and files saved in the smartphone on the PC. You can access them on a folder on the PC. This will allow users to immediately transfer files such as movies or a PPT on bigger screen. This way they won’t have to attach the file in a mail and send it over or look for a USB cable.

It can also be used as a controller for turning pages in a Power Point presentation. Just open the PPT file on the PC and tap on the PowerPoint button on the phone’s screen and the phone is ready to be used as a controller.

The most useful feature is the direct access to all your files, folders, ebooks, PPTs, word files, movies and songs stored in a PC on the phone’s interface. However, it doesn’t support remote view, which means you can’t open a file on the phone right away. You will have to download it before you can open it on the phone. Here the file transfer isn’t as fast as the usual SHAREit transfer between two smartphones. However, it is still a lot quicker than sharing files over Bluetooth. We moved a 500MB file to the phone in five minutes, which is a little slow in comparison to file transfer over USB 3.0.

You can also stream photos from the phone to a big screen from the phone’s interface. This doesn’t require file transfer or downloading so you can use it instantly.

The new set of features makes the app more useful for people who use their smartphone and PC for work or personal use simultaneously.